Career and Writings of Demetrius Kydones

Dr Judith Ryder is currently Research fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford. Her research interests include Byzantine history, theology and culture, particularly of the 11th and 14th centuries. Her thesis on Demetrius Kydones won the 2006 Hellenic Foundation prize for best UK thesis in the Byzantine/Modern Greek category.

• CONTENTSAcknowledgements ... ixAbbreviations ... xiIntroduction ... xiiiSection One: Intellectual contextIntroduction ... 3Chapter One. Demetrius’ Intellectual Background ... 5* The Primary Context:The Byzantine Background ... 5* The Secondary Context:Western Texts ... 13* Demetrius’ Latin Studies ... 13* The Evidence ... 15TheWriters/Texts ... 16Aquinas ... 16Augustinian Texts ... 20Boethius ... 24Further texts ... 26* The Western Material: Observations ... 28Section two: ideas and preoccupationsIntroduction ... 41The Sources: Demetrius’Writings to c. 1371 ... 42Chapter Two. The Political Sphere ... 49* Demetrius’ Understanding of Imperial Office and HisRelationship withHis Imperial Patrons ... 49* Foreign Policy (Excluding Relations with the LatinWest) ... 57* The TurkishThreat ... 57* Bulgarians and Serbs ... 63* Hungarians andMongols ... 67* Foreign Policy:The Latins ... 70Chapter Three. The Religious Sphere ... 83* Key Principles and Ideas ... 83* Faith and Revelation ... 84* The Sources of Revelation: Interplay of Scripture,‘Fathers’ and ‘Councils’ ... 85* Methodology: Infallibility and Fallibility; DeterminingAuthoritative Sources ... 88* Methodology: Defending the Latins ... 90* Methodology:The Status ofHuman Reason ... 92* ‘Fathers’ and ‘Councils’: Practical Issues ... 96* Specific Issues ... 103* The Church, East andWest ... 103* The Filioque ... 118* Palamas ... 124Section three: historical context and implicationsIntroduction ... 131Chapter Four. The Extent of ‘Publicity’ ... 133* Channels for Circulation ... 133* TheManuscript Evidence ... 133* Further Evidence of Circulation ... 136* PoliticalThemes ... 148* Demetrius andHis Imperial Patrons ... 148* Foreign Policy ... 153The TurkishThreat ... 153International Relations (Excluding the Latins) ... 156International Relations:The Latins ... 157* ReligiousThemes ... 160* General Attitudes to theWest, Including the Papacy ... 160* Specific Doctrinal Issues ... 161The Filioque ... 161Palamism, Philotheos and theHesychasts ... 162* Normative Relations ... 165Conclusions ... 168Chapter Five. Contextualising Demetrius’ Pro-western Approach ... 169Introduction ... 169* The General Background: Byzantine-papal/Byzantine-Latin Relations ... 171* Demetrius’ Role in Developments ... 184* The Credibility of the Pro-western Propaganda ... 205Chapter Six. Orthodox Developments ... 221Introduction ... 221* Divisions within Orthodoxy ... 221* TheHesychast Background ... 221* The Repercussions of the CivilWar ... 228* Philotheos and Demetrius in the Late s ... 232* Indications of Strength? ... 239* ‘Orthodox Universalism’ and Relations with OtherOrthodox Sees ... 241Serbia/Peç ... 243Bulgaria/Trnovo ... 245Russia/Kiev ... 247* ‘InternationalHesychasm’ ... 250Conclusions ... 258Conclusion ... 265Select Bibliography ... 269General Index ... 281Manuscripts mentioned ... 289Index of Letters of Demetrius Kydones cited ... 291Original works of named authors/translations cited in the text ... 293